Jonathan Sanchez in World Series Game 3: Anything can happen, folks

-News: Pablo Sandoval will be the Giants’ DH tomorrow, the Rangers say they’re OK, but have to win Game 3, and I’m very, very tired after a nice 5:45 a.m. flight out of SFO today, so this goes right to the column.

—-the column/

ARLINGTON, Texas–Jonathan Sanchez gave me the glare Friday, and it was, not shockingly, the same one he gave Chase Utley a week ago.

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No, Sanchez didn’t invite me to brawl right there in the World Series media interview room and nobody got ejected or fined.

But there was also no mistaking the spirit of Sanchez’s words when I asked him if, looking back, he regretted any part of his now-infamous confrontation with Chase Utley in Game 6 of the NCLS in Philadelphia.

“We’re in the World Series against Texas,” Sanchez said tersely. “(The) Phillies are at home. I don’t want to talk about that.”

Point well-taken: Sanchez is pitching tonight’s World Series Game 3, with a chance to carry the Giants to a 3-0 series lead, and the Utley incident is old news against that historic backdrop.

He’s ready. He’s edgy. He’s Sanchez.

But the Utley Nutty—and the shaky pitching that led to that third-inning blowup—is relevant today because it was Sanchez’s last start, and because it was not out of character.

And here Sanchez is, back on the road, lined up against a powerful Ranger offense that is determined to re-animate Texas’ title chances.

Of course, Sanchez has had more than his share of 2010 high-points, too.

He threw tremendously in the final game of the regular season against San Diego to clinch a playoff spot, threw even better to help win Game 3 of the NLDS in Atlanta, and recovered after a wobbly first inning to keep the Giants in Game 2 against Philadelphia.

Then came Game 6 against the Phillies, when Sanchez clearly let his emotions get the best of him.

He was wild, gave up two runs in the first two innings, hit Utley with a pitch in the third, then apparently challenged him to a fight when Utley picked up the ball at his feet and flipped it back towards Sanchez.

“I think at the end, he was embarrassed a little bit,” Giants pitching coach Dave Righetti. “He knew in his mind he felt he let the team down and I think he was ready for anything at that point.”

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That could happen again today. And this time, the bullpen might not save him, or the Giants. Or Sanchez could channel his emotions and hurl another classic.

Nobody really knows what will happen, which is the drama of Sanchez, and Sanchez isn’t exactly running away from his eccentricities.

Tim Lincecum is the ace. Matt Cain is the stalwart. Madison Bumgarner is the up-and-comer. And Sanchez… he’s the guy who could do anything.

“I didn’t watch any video,” Sanchez said of the Game 6 performance. “I don’t need to watch videos. That’s in the past and I’m just going to go out there tomorrow and do my best.”

By the way, Sanchez is slated to start Game 7 at AT&T Park if the series lasts that long.

Is Righetti concerned about Sanchez after the Game 6 implosion?

“Yes,” Righetti said recently. “I am.”

To be fair, Sanchez pitched very well this season (13-9, with a 3.07 earned-run average, and the Giants won 17 of his last 24 starts).

But he also was the headliner of the Giants’ other most infamous event of the season, when he guaranteed that the Giants would sweep the Padres in an upcoming August series.

They did not actually sweep the Padres. (Though he was correct that the Giants would, in the end, surge ahead of the Padres and stay ahead in the NL West.)

“He wants to be part of it,” Righetti said of Sanchez’s love of the big moment. “You can tell. He just loves it. But when you love something so much, sometimes you’ve got to be careful how far you go…

“He’s been through a lot of scenarios. And that was definitely one of them.

Does it concern me? Yeah.”

Not surprisingly, Sanchez’s teammates all sounded the same theme: Sanchez has been a big plus most of this season; and in the rare times he struggled, he usually bounced right back the next start.

This is his next start.

“I think he’ll be just fine,” said Madison Bumgarner, who will start Game 4 on Sunday. “I think he’s already forgotten about that last start.”

That’s Sanchez’s unique style—he keeps doings that are so memorable, you almost forget what he did last time. Today, in the World Series, he might do the most memorable thing ever.

Tim Kawakami

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good Sanchez or dirty (bad) Sanchez. I hope it’s dirty Sanchez I love to watch him implode.

a

If Sanchez and quiet the Rangers in their world series home opener. No way the Ranger can recover.

So Sanchez is on the spot, with the full weight of 50 years curse sitting squarely on his shoulder.

Common Sense

Sanchez will give up a dinger in the first, the Texas fans will go crazy, but then he wills settle in and shut down both the Rangers and their fans. Their fans are scared and the slightest thing to go against them will bring out the worry frowns.

Gints in 5

yoked

non-story. Complete speculation by dramakami.

TheCity

uh yoked? pre-game columns tend to be speculation. really what else is there?

Spike

Million dollar arm. Ten cent head.

mike

get the bullpen ready.

Otis

Sanchez has been consistently good – not so much of a wild card really.
Go Giants.

amigo

Hard hitting journalism from Tim Kawakami. Not afraid to ask the tough questions. Way to stir the pot Tim. You showed Sanchez.

shindigity

As good as sanchez has been this year, i still hold my breath every inning he’s on the mound.

yoked

For the record Kawakami ripped Sanchez June 17th, 2009 only to see him throw a no-hitter on July 11th, 2009 and turn into one of the better starters in the NL….

yoked

The post from June 17th, one of my favorites….

“Obviously, Jonathan Sanchez is a big and noticeable problem for the Giants. He’s pitching poorly, even for a fifth starter–5.43 ERA, 1.73 WHIP, he averages only a little more than 5 innings per start, he has only gotten an out into the 7th inning once this year in 12 starts. The Giants are 3-9 in his starts, by the way, which surely comes as no surprise to anybody who has been watching Sanchez noodle up those insta-2-0 counts and knows that once the Giants get down 4-0 or so, it’s all but over. Also, Sanchez, 26, does not project to be a whole lot better, despite the Giants’ most fervent wishes. Last year he had a 5.01 ERA and 1.45 WHIP. (Career ERA: 5.23.)

This is probably just about who Sanchez is:

* He never was worth too much on the trade market, but now he’s really shaky territory;

* He’s an erratic, “good stuff/bad focus” lefty fifth starter and no more–probably due for one good start every three or four outings, which is not very good.”

Lt

LOL, Yoked,,,,,,,Thank you.

http://3renfrews@comcast.net robin

TK, it must suck when you are so opinionated about something and get it completely wrong to the extent that it looks like you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about.On top of that you have to look at your dribble again posted by Yoked which shows all who see that the less perspective and intelligence you have the worse it looks on paper.

Let see, he lead the league keeping batters hitting 214 against him clinched the playoffs after Matt and Zito where not able to and struck out 11 braves in the playoffs.TK, please do not backtrack so much after the fact.Take your medicine like a man and move on like Sanchez has.It is so funny that you start his blog saying he gave the glare when asked about the hitter batter in Philly, I wonder how you would respond if he asked about you pathetic take on Jon Sanchez’s skills June 17th No comment eh TK

Albumin

You guys are funny. Mr. K is paid to be entertaining, not be right all the time.

Fred Sanford

In June 2009 Sanchez was horrible. Not good at all. Yeah, we threw a no hitter in July 2009 but that doesn’t change who he was last year. Take a look at the list of guys who threw no hitters and you will find some pretty unremarkable pitchers who had a magical night.

If you asked anyone around here what they thought about Sanchez in June 2009, I don’t think his/her take would have been that much different. His whole career had been pretty much the same up to that point.

Has Sanchez turned himself around? No doubt. I still wouldn’t call him one of the better starters in the league though. He would have to become a lot more consistent to get into that category.

There is nothing in this column for TK to backtrack on and there is no drama. Everybody knows that when Sanchez takes the mound you have no idea what you are going to get from him. He can dominate or he can start walking a bunch of people and implode.

If you think TK is an idiot then that’s fine. But if you go back in the archives of anybody who writes a sports column, you are going to find instances, and maybe even lots of them, where they are dead wrong. Columnists are opinionated and they speculate…that is what they are paid to do. If you don’t like what they write, then why do you read them? So you can go back in the archives, find out where they were wrong and rip on them? Well, if that makes you feel good then great. I’m sure TK doesn’t mind and his bosses at the Mercury News certainly don’t mind the comments and page hits.

That Man

Warriors?

andy

Tim, your ego is amazing. Why do you insist on inserting yourself in the picture?
He glared at you because as usual you asked a question you know would piss him off. Way to go, you are solidly in the lead as the Bay Area’s most disliked writer.

Thanks Yoked for keeping tabs on TK. Those archived posts are killers, right Tim?

SharkyVinnie

Time for a texas sized sweep.. Go Giants get er done

fred

this is exactly what everyone is wondering

i think Sanchez is due for a shutdown outing

duh

Uh…Sanchez has better ERA for the last couple of months compared to Cain. One hiccup isn’t enough to deter him.